Facing this explosive suggestion that exploded in the palace, the ministers who couldn't help but whisper to each other were a little hesitant and didn't know how to deal with it.
Feng Ziying, on the other hand, was slightly surprised and then a little thoughtful, as if she was a little surprised by such a sudden proposal.
However, in the eyes of Gu Guanqiao and the others, they had mixed feelings.
They never believed that Feng Ziying knew nothing about this "change" in advance. It is simply unimaginable that Xu Guangqi, who is like an invisible person in the cabinet, dared to make such a deafening and powerful voice at the court meeting today.
Isn't there Feng Ziying's instigation and encouragement here? It's impossible even if you think about it.
This was really an "accident" concocted by Feng Ziying, but the huge impact of this accident far exceeded everyone's imagination.
Face to face with Gu Guanqiao and the other two people who didn't know how to deal with each other for a while, Xu Guangqi was extremely nervous at this time, but he knew that he must not panic at this time, and he had to complete the follow-up procedures in an orderly manner. Only in this way can he There should be no flaws in the procedures to avoid possible troubles in the future.
Now these few people were stunned. They had not expected such a thing at all. However, as long as they slowly calmed down, they would immediately find many countermeasures to delay or even stop such an equally serious attack. Crazy move.
Now he wants to take advantage of the legal inability of Gu Guanqiao and the others to block his proposal, and at the same time, he wants to give the other three people the illusion that this is just a temporary measure to vent his dissatisfaction, and Feng Ziying has no chance of obtaining it. success.
As long as this can cause some hesitation in their hearts and allow such a process to proceed, it will be too late for any of the three of them to regret and object later.
“If everyone in the palace has no objections, I am afraid that there is no one else suitable in this cabinet, so I will take the initiative to ask Ying to be the host of this round of recommendation voting,..."
Xu Guangqi did not give everyone much room to think, and what he said was reasonable. Among the five cabinet members, Gu Guanqiao and Gu Guanqiao were all first-round candidates and could be considered stakeholders. Naturally, they could not act as moderators. Feng Keng is the party involved in this round of voting, let alone the host. Only he, the cabinet minister accompanying the last seat, can preside over it.
With a wave of his hand, the left deputy imperial censor Liu Sijie, who was already prepared, glanced at Gu Bingqian who was still in shock. The other right deputy imperial censor Ma Shiying's face was even more rosy and he immediately gathered him up early. Yugui redistributed it.
Yu Gui's announcement means that the third round of voting is inevitable. At this time, Gu Bingqian, Guan Yingzhen and Qiao Yingjia are also thinking urgently about what such a huge change will bring?
This of course cannot be Xu Guangqi's impromptu idea, but with the connections and ears of the three of them, they have not heard any voice of Feng Ziying canvassing votes before, which shows that it is not a deliberate plan by Feng Ziying and Xu Guangqi.
If that's the case, Gu Guanqiao and the others believe that they will be able to find some clues no matter what, and it is impossible for them to be unaware of it.
If Feng Ziying's conspiracy had been discovered early, then the planning plan for this election would not have been like this. It might even have been a three-person vote, with the one with the fewest votes eliminated, and then the top two would face off, and the one with the most votes would be the winner. Directly serving as the chief assistant, completely cutting off Feng Ziying's possibility.
It was precisely because the three of them were not absolutely sure that they used Feng Ziying's suggestion, but now it seems that it has become an opportunity for Feng Ziying to "sneak attack".
But this is also an adventure for Feng Ziying. His base and himself only have five votes. So what if scholars from Lingnan and Southwest China support him? It's only eight votes, which is too far away from twenty-one votes to have any chance.
However, Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia felt that this might be a "demonstration" by Feng Ziying, or a display of strength.
If scholars from Lingnan and Southwest China really gathered under Feng Ziying's command, then Feng Ziying, who had eight votes of support, would really overwhelm Guan Yingzhen and become a "mountain" that no one in the court could ignore.
Whether Gu Bingqian or Qiao Yingjia is elected as the first assistant, they have to consider how to choose if Feng Ziying wants to compete for the second assistant?
Aiming for the position of second assistant is actually to prepare for the next first assistant, but even so, Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia feel tremendous pressure.
Although they also admit that Feng Ziying's behavior is reasonable. A cabinet minister who does not want to be the chief minister is not a good cabinet minister. The problem is that Feng Ziying is only in his early thirties. Even if he becomes the chief minister in five years, He is only thirty-seven or eighty-years-old. This is incredible.
But now is no longer the time to consider this. What they are more worried about now is that this round of Feng Ziying's "strength display" must not go wrong.
Although in theory there should be no big surprises, both Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia immediately calculated what other votes Feng Ziying might "accidentally" get in addition to the eight votes that had already been seconded.
For example, Cao Yubian, a "defection" vote in the North, did not vote for Qiao Yingjia because he was dissatisfied with him, but he also did not vote for anyone else.
Also for example, Jia Hua at the end is said to have some relationship with Feng Ziying, and various possibilities exist.
But I haven’t heard that Feng Ziying has much contact with Cao Yubian. Cao Yubian should not be so ridiculous as to vote for a guy who is only in his early thirties.
And Wu Daonan is even more impossible. When he was in Shuntian Mansion, there was one Fu Yin and one Fu Cheng. The two did not get along well with each other, and they were not in harmony with each other. To be precise, Feng Ziying's limelight overwhelmed Wu Daonan. I believe no one would be happy.
As for Jia Hua, Qiao Yingjia also knew that Feng Ziying and Jia Hua had become increasingly estranged in the past two years, and Jia Hua had become a member of Gu Bingqian's team.
Besides these three votes, who else?
Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia both exchanged glances, but in the end they both looked at Guan Yingzhen.
The biggest variable comes from Guan Yingzhen.
Guan Yingzhen has been defeated.
In other words, if he cares about his face, Guan Yingzhen should consider retiring.
As the leader of the Huguang scholars and the second assistant of the current cabinet, he was defeated miserably in this vote, and his votes were far inferior to those of Gu and Qiao.
And judging from the fact that the scholars in southwest and Lingnan have chosen Feng Ziying as their spokesperson, the strategy of the scholars in Huguang has also failed, and Guan Yingzhen failed to win the hearts of the non-mainstream scholars.
Under this situation, the Feng clique represented by Feng Ziying suddenly emerged and has surpassed the power of the Huguang clique (Chu Party).
If all the scholars in Huguang vote for Feng Ziying, and these six votes are added, Feng Ziying's votes can suddenly increase to 14 votes. If Cao Yubian, Wu Daonan and Jia Hua are added, everyone is not very good. Once the determined number of votes is entered, Feng Ziying may get more than 17 votes. Although it is still far away from the majority, the challenge has suddenly increased.
Because this means that the confluence of the three branches of the Feng family, the non-mainstream family (Southwestern and Lingnan), and the Huguang family has overwhelmed the independent scholars of the Jiangnan family and the Beidi family. Of course, he can choose who to cooperate with, and even be able to He occupies a dominant position in the cooperation, even if he is the second assistant, I am afraid that the first assistant will be quite uncomfortable.
Of course, Guan Yingzhen felt the eyes from Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia, but at this time, he couldn't tell that he was confused.
Previously, after he was sure of his failure, he no longer restrained the voting attitude of Huguang's important ministers. Guo Zhengyu and Xiong Tingbi voted for Gu Bingqian, and the rest completely abstained. But now what about the vote for Feng Ziying?
Guan Yingzhen can be sure that Chai Ke, Yang He, and Guo Zhengyu will vote for Feng Ziying, but Yang Lian and Xiong Tingbi are hard to say. What about his attitude? Do we need to change again and ask them to vote for Feng Ziying or not?
Tangled and hesitant.
He needs to figure out where he will go in the future.
Once you vote for Feng Ziying, will Feng Ziying really win?
Compared to Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia who still feel that Feng Ziying cannot get more than half of the votes, Guan Yingzhen is not as confident as they are.
Once all the scholars in Huguang voted for Feng Ziying, Feng Ziying won 14 votes. Adding Xu Guangqi's vote, it would be 15 votes. The other six votes still seemed to be an insurmountable barrier, but Guan Yingzhen felt that Feng Ziying still had a chance. Opportunity.
For example, Li Zhizao, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, has a particularly close relationship with Xu Guangqi, and shares many of Feng Ziying's views on the study of objects. They are actively promoting the inclusion of the study of objects in future imperial examinations. Many people are not clear about this, but Guan Yingzhen is not. Know.
In addition, Guan Yingzhen also knew that the cohesion among the Jiangnan scholars was actually very weak. Gu Bingqian was ostensibly the leader of the Jiangnan scholars, but this was under the premise that there was no other choice. Once there was a replacement, it would be difficult to say.
Although Feng Ziying was born in the North, but look at the people around him, Pan Ruzhen is from Anqing, Fu Shi is from Jinling, and his two core staff are Wang Wenyan from She County, Huizhou, and Wu Yaoqing from Xuzhou, plus his three-bedroom wife, The Shen family and the Lin family are both from Suzhou, and the Xue family is from Jinling, all from the south of the Yangtze River. It is well known that they have a particularly close relationship with the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, no less than the merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi. The strategy of opening up the sea has won the favor of the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River. , under this situation, who dares to say that more than ten important officials from Jiangnan will not be affected?
Similarly, his northern origin will also affect the attitude of the northern cadastral ministers.
Even if Qiao Yingjia has strong control over the northern scholars, Qiao Yingjia's too tough and conservative style still has great side effects. There are also many important northern ministers who are not satisfied with Qiao Yingjia's style, but they usually dare not show it, but What about this critical moment?